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REV. WM. M. BEAUCHAMP, S. T. D, LL. D. 



Vol. III. 



No. I 



RESEARCHES AND TRANSACTIONS 

OF 

THE NEW YORK STATE ARCHEOLOGICAL 
ASSOCIATION 



LEWIS H. MORGAN CHAPTER 

ROCHESTER, N. Y. 

The Founders of the New York Iroquois 
League and Its Probable Date 

BY 

REV. WM. M; BEAUCHAMP, S. T. D., LL. D. 




PUBLISHED BY LEWIS H. MORGAN CHAPTER 

ROCHESTER, N. Y. 

1921 

Press of C. F. Milliken & Co., Canandaigua , New York. 



FOREWORD 

The Rev. William M. Beauchamp. S. T. D., LL. 1)., is 
admittedly our greatest living authority on the aboriginal 
inhabitants of New York State. Where document and tradition 
fail the historian, Dr. Beauchamp reveals Iroquois life and 
institutions through artifacts "which the Indian buried witli the 
bones of his people. Unfortunately for the student of modern 
research there were no Beauchamps of his scientific mind among 
the classic and courageous missionaries of the contact period to 
gather and classify ethnic material. Within his own lifetime 
Dr. Beauchamp has seen archaeology become a scientific pursuit. 
His life lacks less than a decade of completing a century. His 
native state has published his works which stand as official 
and authoritative. Morgan Chapter is happy in the honor of 
publishing this venerable scientist's latest work, which is given 
to the world in his ninety-second year. 

Dr. Beauchamp M^as born in Coldenham, Orange County, 
New York, on March 25, 1880. He went to Onondaga county 
earW the following year and often saw the Onondaga Indians 
in the streets of Skaneateles and in his father's store, and thus 
began an interest in the Red Man. Picturesque incidents in 
the history of colonial New York increased this interest in early 
school life. 

His first public lecture was on the New York Iroquois. Of 
archaeology in its restricted sense he kncvv nothing, when he 
took charge of Grace church, Baldwinsville, in 1865, except 
the little found in Schoolcraft's notes on the Iroquois, and that 
was misleading. On the Seneca river near which he lived was 
a virgin opportunity. Curious relies abounded and there Avere 
stockades and earthworks not far away. 

It was some time, however, before Dr. Beauchamp thought 
much of these objects of study. Then strange articles were 
brought to him. so strange that he drew and described them 



4 THE FOrXDERS OF THE -VEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 

alonof with the more common articles. There was method in 
this and ten large volumes now contain thousands of original 
drawings with notes, and plans of other kinds. Gradually the 
work took in a larger field, unconsciously fitting him for the 
New York State .Museum work which he began in December, 1896, 
and ended in December. 1905. This work included thirteen 
illustrated bulletins on early and recent life of New York 
Indians, one being a special volume on the history of the New 
York Iroquois. Since then he has made many addresses 
before societies on kindred subjects. For many years he was 
a contributor to^ the Journal of American Folklore, and an officer 
of the American xVssociation for the Advancement of Science. 

Dr. Heauchamp entered on his professional life, September 
21. lc^()2. and went to (Jrace ehundi. Baldwiiisville, July 1, 1865, 
leaving there October 1, 1900, being then past seventy years of 
age. lie received the degree of S. T. D., from Hobart College 
on November 30, 1886. and on June 14, 1920, he received the 
dcgi'ec of ]Aj. D. from Syracuse T^niversity. 

Bishop Huntington appointed him one of the three 
exaiiiiniug chajilains of the diocese of Central New York, June 
]1. 1884. lie has held that office ever since. In 1905 Dr. 
Beauchamp was chosen president of the Syracuse Clerical Club, 
and after serving twelve years declined re-election. In 1889 he 
was made a director of the Onondaga Historical Association, 
and is now ehlest in years and service with the rank of 
imnoi-ar\- president. In 1911 he was one of the five honorary 
members of the Xew York State Historical Association, Theodore 
Eoosevelt and Woodrow Wilson being among the others. 

Socially Dr. Beauchanip is a 32d degree ^lason, and historian 
and vice-president of the Masonic Veterans of Central New York. 
Professionally he is often in the pulpit or engaged in other 
reli<rious sci-vices, and indulges in botanical research in its 
;ippropriate seasons. In fact several natural sciences have 
helped him much in autifpiarian work for which he has still a 
strong relish. 

I'r. I'cauchamp received the secoinl award <>f the Corn- 
plauler Med;i| f'M' lr(M|uois icseai-(di, Kehi-uary 20. litOd. He has 
l-eeii ;ido|»le,i into ilic Ououdaga canton of the Six Nations. His 



THE FOUNDERS OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 5 

works, published as bulletins under the authority of the Regents 
of the University of the State of New York, include : 

"Aboriginal Occupation of New York," 1900; "Polished 
Stone Articles," 1897; "Earthenware of the New York 
Aborigines,'' 1898; "History of the New York Iroquois," 1905; 
"Civil, Religious and Mourning Councils and Ceremonies of 
Adoption of the New York Indians," 1907; "Metallic Ornaments 
of the New York Indians/" 1903; "Metallic Impltments or the 
New York Indians." 1902; "Aboriginal Place Names of New 
York." 1907; "Perch Lake Mounds," 1905; "Horn and Bone 
Implements of the New York Indians," 1902; "Aboriginal Use 
of Wood," 1905; "AVampum and Shell Articles," 1901; 
"Aboriginal Chipped Stone Implements," 1897. 

Before these he published "Th? Ircxjuois Trail" " in 1892, 
and "Indian Names in New York" in 1893. For the Onondaga 
Historical Association he prepared "The Revolutionary Soldiers 
of Onondaga County," 306 pages. 1912, and "Moravian Journals 
Relating to Central New York, 1745- "66," 243 pages. 1916. For 
the same society he is now preparing a volume on New York 
Iro<jUois Folklore, which necessarily includes s»>me portions of 
the present paper, but has a wider field. This will soon appear,, 
and will include much almost unknoM^n even to students of 
Indian life. 

ROBERT DANIEL BURNS, 

Recorder Morgan Chapter. 



THE 

FOUNDERS OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 

LEAGUE AND ITS PROBABLE DATE 

Had not the Five Nations founded the Konosioni — had not 
the Dutch and English gained their friendship — there might 
have been no U. S. A., and the destinies of the world might 
have been changed. Yet the common name of the one who 
suggested the forest confederacy was practically unknown to 
the white man a century ago, and is hardly more than a name 
to most men now. Its widest celebrity is due to Longfellow, 
Avho used but the name, placing it in a foreign environment, 
though retaining one great feature of his character: 

"How he prayed and how he fasted, 
"How he lived, and toiled, and suffered, 
•'That the tribes of men might prosper, 
"That he might advance his people." 

Unselfish devotion to the good of others was the great 
feature of Hiawatha's character, in every tale we have of him. 
He was a pure-minded patriot, careless of rank or fame. The 
first historic mention of him shows this plainly. 

There came to the Mohawk valley in 174.3. Pyrlaeus, a 
^loravian missionary, on his way to Onondaga, but who was 
turned back by the Indians. He stayed awhile at old Canajo- 
harie and learned some Mohawk words, on Avhich he founded a 
Mohawk dictionary. He also learned something of their history, 
writing an account of this, which, until recently, Avas on record 
in Philadelphia. All traces of this have disappeared, as far 
as my inquiries have gone, but a few quotations have survived. 

The Mohawks gave him correctly the names of the head 
chief of each nation at the time the League was formed, adding 
that this took place "one age before the white people came 
into the country, and was suggested by Thannawage, an old 
Mohawk." This name agrees with Taenyawahke, or Taounya- 
watha, which J. V. H. Clark said was the name of Hiawatha 
when he first came to Onondaga. 



S THE FOUNDERS OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 

The next Indian reference to the origin of the Five Nations, 
as such, is from Canassatego — not the gi'eat Onondaga but a 
SentMji ell iff I'f I'ontiac's time — and this includes, like Clark's 
I. ••rend, (liviiic agency. The Konosioni land, with its beautiful 
lakes, tort-sts. tields and mountains, 'had emerged fl'om the 
\r;itors. hut was unoccupied, and one of the gods came down 
to crt'atc num. He sowed five handfuls of red seed in the 
Icrtile ticlds of Onondaga. He was the Creator of these. He 
addressed tlic children when they were grown, in these words: 

•"Ve are tive nations, for ye sprang each from a different 
handful of the seed I sowed: but ye are all brethren, and I am 
your father, for T made you all: I have nursed and brought you 
!![»: — Mohocks, I have made you hold and valiant, and see, I 
give you corn for your food. Oneidas, I have made you patient 
of pain and hunger: the nuts and fruits of the trees are yours. 
Sennek<'rs. I have made you industrious and active; beans do 
I give \-ou for nourishment. Cayugas. I have made you strong, 
fi'iendlx- aiul generous: ground nuts and every root shall refresh 
you. Oiioiidagoes, T have made you wise, just and eloquent; 
s(|uashes jitid grapes have I given you to eat, and tobacco to 
smoke in the council. The beasts, birds and fishes I have given 
to you all in common. As I liave loved and taken care of you 
all so do \ on lf»ve and take care of one another,"' with much 
more good advice poorly followed. 

When he had ended "he wrapped himself in a bright cloud, 
and went like a swift ai'i-ow to the sun. where his brethren 
rejoiced at his i-eturii."' In some ways this resembles Clark's 
.story. In this inh^ the country is Akanishionegy. Some years 
ago I found another purely human account which had escaped 
attention, in William Dunlap's "History of the New Nether- 
lands. Province and State of New York." published in 1839. 
He had il fiMnn iOphraim Webster in 1815. An inferior chief 
<ir the Onondauas ••conceived the bright idea of union and of 
a trreai coiiiieil of the chiefs of the Five Nations. The principal 
chief opjiosed it. He was a great warrior, and feared to lose 
his ijitlncuce as lu-ad man of the Onondagas. This was a selfish 
'iian." On this "the younger chief was silenced, but he 
detcrnnned i,, attempt the great political work. This was a 
itian who loved the welfare of others." First he went to the 



THE FOUNDERS OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 9 

Mohawks and Oneidas, his scheme being rejected at home, and 
then to the Cayngas and Senecas. All favored the plan and a 
great council was called, but first he again saw the principal 
(.•hief and agreed that he should be considered the author of 
the now popular plan and thus be made the head of five nations 
instead of one. lie taught him, also, an old time illustration. 
A single stick was easily broken, but in five bound together 
there was strength. 

Next came J. V. H. Clark's story, which he had from 
Abraham LaFort and Captain Frost in 1843. This he wrote 
out carefully with a view to oratorical effect, reading it the 
following winter before the Manlius Lyceum and in Fayetteville. 
It took permanent form in his history of Onondaga some years 
later, and to him we owe the name. I think two distinct stories 
are united in it. 

In this Taounyawatha, according to him fjic god of fisheries 
and Juiufi}i(/ grounds, or more correctly, said my interpreter, 
Ta-en-ya-wah-ke, The Holder of the heavens, landed at Oswego 
from his white canoe, ascended a hill on the west side, and 
looked back upon the lake, exclaiming "Oshwahkee! Oshwah- 
kee!" which ]\Ir. Clark interpreted, "I see evervzchere and 
see nothing." 

From this, he said, Oswego has its name. The word really 
means "Floi^'ing out.''' and is applied only to outlets of large 
rivers or towns upon them. Grand River in Ontario, Canada, 
has this name, and gave it to Lake Erie. The Great Kanahwha 
in Virginia had the same Iroquois name. 

The mysterious visitor was approached by two Onondaga 
hunters, who had observed his landing, and they became his 
companions in wonderful adventures. As these are fully detailed 
in Clark's Onondaga, I merely sketch them now. In the white 
canoe they all ascended the Oswego river to free the country 
from monsters and enchantments. A great serpent reached 
from bank to bank, but the magic paddle cut him in twain. 
Some miles farther another had the same fate and the fish 
confined there were freed. There was the finest kind of fishing 
for a while. In Irocjuois lore serpents are always sources of 
evil. It is the special office of the Thunder gods to destroy them. 

The voyagers came near Onondaga lake, which then had 



10 THK FOrXDERS OF THK NEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 

no outlet and extemlcd far suutli among the hills. Taeuyawahke 
iiiadr a small trench with his magic paddle, which soou deepened 
anil widened, the lake decreased in size, the salt springs appeared 

a blessing to the Onondagas, though they knew nothing of 

t^all till l(i")4. This may allude to the lowering of the lake 
m \>'2o. Near the site of lialdwinsville an enchantress was 
destroyed who guai'ded the groves of chestnuts. These became 
accessible and spread fast. 

The most marvelous adventure was above Cross lake, where 
two i:reat mosquitoes, one on each river bank, destroyed all who 
tried to pass. One ^\•as soon slain, and the other tied with 
incredible swiftness, with Taeuyawahke in close pursuit. Here 
1 use my own accctunt. The monster tiew to Oneida and back 
to Ihe Niagara river. An ind(mted stone shows where the 
demi-god sat down to rest and have a smoke. Pie laid down his 
pipe and it burned a brown hole in the rock, which the Ttiscaroras 
used to show. At Brighton, in Syracuse, the Great Mosquito 
got well tired, took to the ground and l(4't his foot prints in 
the sand. Chief Abraham Hill said he had seen them there. 
They were liird-like and about twenty inches long. His pursuer's 
ti'acks were there, too, but I asked foi" no description of them. 
The monster met its death near North Syi-acuse, at a place still 
called Kah-yali-tak-ne-t'ke-tah-ke, Where the mosquito lies, by 
the Indians. Alas for the results. Its bod,v decayed and became 
myi'iads of insects. 

('lark's account told of the killing of two great eagles at 
the ]\Ioiiic/.unia marshes, who had private preserves of water fowl 
iliere. Othei' nuisances were abated, and then Taenyawahkee 
laid aside his divine nature, assumed the name of Hiawatha or 
the ".-ery -wise man. and made his home at Cross lake, Te-ung-to. 
or Jiniiw of the leise man. accoi-dino- f,, Clark. The Onondagas 
call it Teunento. ,,/ //,,^ eedar /■'laee. Hiawatha's name will 
lie discussed later. 

There was a quiet time till the great Huron war came on, 
involving the A]gon(|uins of Canada. A great council met on 
Onondaga lake, a little north of the village of Liverpool and a 
f^ne place foi- it. The peril was great. Hiawatha was summoned 
and aft<'r a lime came, with .gloomy forebodings. His daughter 
was with him and as they landed from the white canoe, a great 



THE FOUNDERS OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 11 

white bird swooped down, crushing the beautiful girl and being 
itself killed. Mr. Clark said this was the white heron, quite 
rare here. Its plumes, he said, were gathered up and worn 
by the bravest warriors. 

Mr. A. B. Street, the author of Frontenac, had part of the 
story from a Cayuga chief, who said the Senecas called it 
Sah-dah-ga-ah, the bird of tlic clouds, and the Onondagas 
Hah-googhs. with the same meaning. My Onondaga interpreter 
called it Hah-kooks, and applied it to the winter gull, fhc bird 
rhof never lights. For the incident itself, my friend. Dr. Horatio 
Hale of Canada, was told that a strange bird was shot just at 
dusk, and there was a rush to see what it was. Hiawatha's 
daughter, in delicate health, was knocked down, trampled upon 
and died, Hiawatha was stupefied, but a merry chief roused 
him and business went on. The League was formed. Hiawatha 
made the last speech to each nation and all, seated himself in 
his white canoe, and rose to heaven amid the sweetest melody. 

It is .just here that a question arises. Mr. Clark used the 
story first as a lecture, naturallj' with some embellishments. He 
afterward said, in his controversy with Schoolcraft on the 
authorship of the story: "The name 'Hosee-noke,' at p. 278 of 
the 'Notes,' is an unadulterated fiction of my own, created for 
the occasion. . . . Again, the speech of Hiawatha, as it 
appears at p. 280 of the Notes, is a pure invention of my own." 

These fictions do not discredit the reception of the main 
features of the story, and he cited them only to prove School- 
craft's plagiarism, but the speeches have often been quoted as 
the veritable words of Hiawatha. The leading statements will 
stand as a rule, but it is well to remember that Clark's words 
are not always, as he himself says, precisely those of his Indian 
friends. 

The story of the white canoe may be taken with reservations, 
but mainly because it must be compared with that of Dekana- 
widah, which may Avell be thought the original tale. In that 
case two stories have simply been told or received as one. The 
voyager came from the north on Lake Ontario, apparently from 
the early homes of the Onondagas, in the Black river country, 
perhaps from Out-en-nes-son-e-ta, Where the Iroquois League 
began to form — an allusion to its Onondaga origin. In Canada 



12 THE FOLXDERS OF THiE NEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 

and Xortliei-n Xew York canoes were made of white birch bark, 
111 wars a<iainst Canada the Iroquois used brown elm bark for 
\hv same piiijiose, and their canoes were ruder in every way than 
those of their enemies. So Hiawatha's white canoe is a natural 
and pictures(iue feature in this local story. 

••The Traditional Narrative of the Origin of the Confederation 
of tile Five Nations." which begins on page 65 of Mr. A. C. 
I'aikei's Slate .Museum Bulletin. No. 184, and was published in 
]!n»i. has. of (M)uise, something to do with the question. The 
nari-ative forms l)ut one section of "The Constitution of the 
Five Nations or the Iroijuois Hook of the Great Law%" as arranged 
!i\ Mr. Parker. There are contiicting stories from ditferent 
persons as might he expected, but Mr. Parker has done a great 
service to many students in bringing so many of them together. 
Some of them I have had from the Onondagas, but much less 
from the .Mohawks, who have put the Dekanawida legends in 
the front rank. 

II is evident from these that eithei- Mr. Clark or his infor- 
mants, confused two stories, told by two Indians at one time. 
There is nothing surprising in that. I quote from the Canadian 
story, in which, as so often in modern Indian tales, there are 
European features. As, for instance, when al)out to stai't, Deka- 
nawida gives tlu'm a sign to let them know at any time whether 
111- is living or dead. If a certain tree is cut and blood flows 
from it he luis lost his life. 

III |)rei)arat ion for his mission to the Iroquois he made a white 
stone canoe in whiidi to cross from the north shore of Lake 
Ontai'io. and invited his mother and grandmother, in modern 
style. lo come and see him off. "Then the grandmother said, 

How are \(>u lioing to travel, since your canoe is made out of 
stone' It will not Hoaf?' Then Dekanawida said, 'This will 
he the first sign of Avonder that man will behold: a canoe made 
out of stone will float. . . . Then he paddled away to 
the eastward. ... In a few moments he disappeared out 
of theii- sight." 

"It lia|)|)ened that at that time a party of hunters had a 
i-amp on the south side of the lake now known as Ontario, and 
one of the party went toward the lake and stood on the bank of 
the hil-c. and beheld the object coming toward him at a distance, 



THE FOUNDERS OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS LEIAGUE 13 

and the man could not understand what it was that was 
approaching him-, shortly afterward he understood that it was 
a canoe, and saAv a man in it, and the moving object was coming 
directly towards where he stood, and when the man (it was 
Dekanawida) reached the shore he came out of his boat and 
cliinl:»ed up the bank. 

"Then Dekanawida asked the man what had caused them to 
be where they were, and the man answered and said: 'We are 
here for a double object. We are hunting game for our living, 
and also because there is a great strife in our settlement.' " 

Dekanawida told them to go home. The Iva-rih-wi-yoh, 
Good Tidings of Peace and Power, had come and strife had 
ceased. The messenger of good tidings had come. Then came 
a meeting with Ta-do-dah-ho, whom he commanded to return to 
his home, and another with the Peace Queen, whose word was 
law in all Indian troubles. Curiously enough she was called 
Ji-kon-sa-se, the wild cat. though her peace measuies differed 
from her name. Then he met Hiawatha, but the stories of their 
first meeting do not agree. 

As there is nothing to link the Onondaga chief with Canada 
or even Lake Ontario, the coming of Dekanawida seems the 
tirst story which Mr. Clark heard. All that passes before his 
hero assumes the name of Hiawatha belongs to this. 

In the second tale the heavenward flight and the celestial 
music may ])e an embellishment or not, but may also have a 
more prosaic explanation. Up to the first great council at 
Cnondaga lake Hiawatha's home and affiliations had been with 
the Onondagas. Because of his cordial reception by the 
MohaAvks and of his friendship for their great chief, for a long 
time his closest companion, he had now cast in his lot with 
them and become a ^lohawk chief. As such his name is heard 
in the great roll call of the condoling song. Historically 
conditions were changed and it was natural that lie sl'.onld siu-' 
a parting song, one of rejoicing because a great and glad task 
was triumphantly ended. If he went down the lake in a white 
canoe, all the better. And if we would know the words, here 
are some of those actually sung at Onondaga in 1655, on another 
peace occasion : 

"Good news! good news indeed! It is all good, mv brother. 



14 THE FOUNDERS OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 

It is every way g-ood that we speak of peace together; that we 
use sueh lieaveiily words. 01 the beautiful voice that thou hast, 
my friend! O! the beautiful voice that I myself have! Farewell 
'o wai': larcwell to its cruel hatchet. Long have we liecn insane, 
ImiT licncel'orth we are brothers — brothers indeed. This day 
tlie (ireat I'eac'C is made! Farewell to war; farewell to arms. 
All we have now done — of every kind is in every way beautiful 
and good." C'onld anything have been better for the completion 
of tlic 'MJi-eat Peace"' of an earlier day? 

Mr. Sehoolcraft had the manuscript of the story from Mr. 
Clark and i)ublished it as his own, saying he had received the 
tale from the Onondaga chiefs. Hence the quotations I have 
made. While a fair authority on the w'estern Algonquins Mr. 
Schoojci'aft ranks low on Ircxiuois themes antl no one would 
think of ([noting him as an authority on New York matters. 
Longfellow, however, had Hiawatha's name from him and used 
western h-gends collected by him. With poetic license he added 
new features, ignored or improved those he found, but all belong 
to a distinct Lidian family, of a strange language, and have 
nothing to do with the real man. 

1 say the real man, for he was such, and an Onondaga chief 
for som<- time. Li Dr. Horatio Hale's "Lawgiver of the Stone 
Age," the subject is treated historically, as he had it from 
Iroquois chiefs at Onondaga and elsewhere. To them the super- 
natural finitnres were but picturesque additions. I think he 
asci-ibed too nnich Avisdom and goodness to him, but the general 
treatment of the subject is very good. 

I (|U()te Dr. Hale's opinion, which is "that the justly 
veui'i-ated author of this confederation, the far-famed Hiawatha, 
Avas not. as some have thought, a mythological or a poetical 
f-reation, hut really an al)original statesman and laAvmaker. a 
personage as authentic and as admirable as Solon or Washington. 
The impoi'taiit bearing of these conclusions on our estimate of 
the mental and moral endoAvment of primitive or uncultivated 
man is too clear to require explanation." ' 

Tlic tales 1 have received. AA^hile mystic and curious, have 
little (•!■ the supernatural, and arc of a man using his best 
cndcavois to secure a great peace, a League of Nations, Avith 
some aid and some opposition. 



THE FOUNDERS OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 15 

Pyrlaeus mentions Dekanawida as the leading founder of 
the League. ^Mr. L. H. Morgan (League of the Iroquois, p. 101) 
says of him: — 

"Da-ga-no-we-da, the founder of the confederacy, and 
Ha-yo-went-ha, his speaker, through whom he laid his plans of 
government before the council which framed the League, were 
both 'raised up' among the fifty original sachems, and in the 
Mohawk nation ; but after their decease these two sacheniships 
Avere left vacant, and have since continued so. 

"Da-ga-no-we-da was an Onondaga, but was adopted by the 
Mohawks and raised up as one of their sachems. Having an 
impediment in his speech he chose Ha-yo-went-ha for his speaker. 
They were both unwilling to accept office, except upon the 
express condition that their sachemships should ever remain 
vacant after their decease. These are the two most illustrious 
names among the Irocjuois." 

In his list of Mohawk chiefs, however, Ha-yo-went-ha comes 
second and Da-ga-no-we-da third. Dr. Hale says of this (Iroquois 
Book of Rites, p. 31), "During my last visit to my lamented 
friend (in September, 1880), when we examined together my 
copy of the then newly discovered Book of Rites, in which he 
was greatly interested, this point was considered. The original 
notes which he made for his work were examined. It appeared 
that in the list as it was first written by him, from the dictation 
of a well-informed Seneca chief, the name of Dekanawidah was 
not comprised. A later, but erroneous suggestion from another 
source, led him to believe that his first informant was mistaken, 
or that he had misunderstood him, and to substitute the name 
of Dekanawidah for the somewhat similar name of Shatekariwate 
(in Seneca. Sadekeiwadeh), which stands third on the roll, 
immediately following that of Hiawatha." 

On the same page Dr. Hale recorded the boastful words of 
Dekanawida in refusing to have a successor. "Let the others 
have successors," he said proudh% "for others can advise you 
like them. But I am the founder of your league and no one else 
can do what I have done." Dr. Hale added: "The boast was 
not unwarranted. Though planned by another, the structure 
had been reared mainly by his labors." 

In the notes to Alfred B. Street's metrical romance of 



16 THE P'OrXDKRS OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 

Frontoiiac (1849), incntion is made of Toganawedah, a beautiful 
\(iuiii:- iiijiii who a{)p<'ared among- them just before the council, 
of llah-yah-wont-hali and his wonderful passing away, and of 
Atotai'ho. the only one of the three founders who remained to 
eoiiipletc the work. Of the latter, head chief of the Five Nations 
and always an Onondaga, Clark says not a word, and David 
Cusick nothing of the other two, while later writers place all 
ihii'c in the foremost rank. 

In one of the tales I have received, Hiawatha, unable to do 
anything at home, begins his journeys and lies down beside a 
small lake to rest. An immense tiock of ducks alights on the 
sni-face, hilling it fi'om his sight. lie stirs and the birds are 
frightened. At once every wing is spread, and in their rapid 
t^ight they bear every drop of water away. Another scene is 
before him. The bottom of the pond is white with shells and 
he gathers many, sti'inging them for future use. This, says this 
stoi-y. was the fii'st Iro(iuois wampum, which Hiawatha caused 
to be used in all iiiii)ortant business affairs. 

There are several stories about this. One of mine tells of 
<' change of materials. Hiawatha at last was far down the 
Mohawk' valley. It was nearly night when he approached the 
wall of a Mohawk town. It was not in good form, for a person 
of note to enter an Iro(iuois town uninvited. So he made a 
shelter and kindled a fire. The light was seen and messengers 
came to inipiire his business. He made no reply but went on 
stringing the short (piills of the w^ampnm bird. This wonderful 
bird soars above the clouds, but he had power to bring it down. 
The messengers wece puzzled by his queer Avays but asked the 
<|uestion again. No answer came, and they returned to the town. 

•'What have yon seen.'"* asked the chief. "We have seen 
an ohi man."" they said, "who looks tired and sits by a fire, but 
he does not fest. He has curious (piills. such as we have not 
seen before. lie |)uts these on strings and hangs them by the 
fire, but he will not say a word." 

"Oo ha(d<.'" said tlie (diief, "and tell him ^we offer him food 
and siieltei- hefc." They went and gave their message and 
Hiawatha said. "Your chief nnist send me a string like the one 
I sen<l. and then I will enter the town." 

Hekanawida had no rpiills from the wampum bird, but 



THE FOUNDERS OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 17 

wisely used those of the partridge instead. These were accepted 
and then came the first lecture on the use of wampum, always 
mdispensable since then. I had my first lecture from an Oneida 
I'hief, whose ample supply covered almost every need. From 
Hiawatha's first use of these strings probably came Dr. Hale's 
idea that his name referred to the finding of the wampum belt. 
Belt of Wampum was the name of a later Onondaga chief. The 
two chiefs were now friends and the Onondaga unfolded his 
plans, which the Mohawk agreed to at once. They started west- 
Avard on their mission and soon came to a party of Oneidas, 
resting under a great tree, and Hiawatha called them Ne-ah-te- 
en-tah-go-na. Big Tree People, and this is their eouncil name still. 

In the grand council it is the custom to address them by this 
title and not by the more common national name. Each nation 
has these two names, but in a council where but one is 
represented the national name may be used. In this case the 
two chiefs soon came to another large party, grouped around a 
peculiar large boulder, and Hiawatha calh^d these Oneota-aug, 
People of the Upright Stone, the national Oneida name. 
Symbolically these may be united as a stone in the crotch of a 
tree. 

The Onondaga council name is Seuh-no-keh-te, Bearing the 
)ianies. and this might be applied to Hiawatha, for he gave 
names on every trip. , Of these .journeys there Avere several, 
which I group as one. Thus, when they passed through Oneida 
lake they were thirty miles north of the great trail to Onondaga. 
As they passed the islands in this lake, which have historic 
importance. Hiawatha had a name ready. "This is Se-u-kah, 
where ,tJie waters divide and meet again." The lake has this 
name still among the Onondagas. 

At the Montezuma marshes they found Indians spearing 
eels, of which the voyagers partook. Hiawatha said, "These 
are Tyu-ha-kah. People of the Rushes. They shall he the Eel 
clan." He named all the clans. They were glad to reach firm 
laud beyond, and called it Cayuga, Where they draw the boats 
out. All this took time, for each nation wanted a year for 
consideration, and each one agreed to the plan before the next 
was visited. Indians never hurry business matters, but at last 
the task was accomplished, the League formed, and it was 



IS THE FOr.XDERS OF THE XEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 

provided tliat The chiefs present should have successors, bearing 
iheir names as titles. Dekanawida alone would have none of 
{his. 11 is name appears but once and in a separate class in the 
irreat condoling- son*!'. So to speak, he disappears, leaving but 
tifly orijiinal priii('ii)al chiefs. These are the words: 

••N'ow then, thou wert the principal of this Confederacy, 
Dekaiiawidali. witii the .joint principal, his son, Odadsheghte: 
and then a^ain his uncle, Dadodaho : and also again, his son, 
Akahenvoii: and again his uncle, Kandariyu : and then again his 
cousin. Sliadekaronyes.'" 

[n this, as in IVrlaeus, Dekanawida represents the Mohawks, 
followed by the head chiefs of the Oneidas, Onondagas, and 
Cayugas. and the two head chiefs of the Senecas. who formed 
two trreat l)ands. 

A new titular head chief of the IMohawks took the place of 
Dekanawida in the roll call of the song, and the Mohawk list 
begins thus: "Now, then, hearken ye who were rulers and 
founders : 

"Tehkaiihhokcn I Continue to listen. Thou who wert ruler. 

■ llayeuAvatha ! Continue to listen. Thou who wert ruler. 

■"Sliadekjirihwade I That was the roll of you. You who 
were joined in the work. You who completed the work. The 
Cii-eat Jjcague."' 

Tl is impossible to completely separate the stories of the 
three founders but some variants may be grouped, and naturally 
Hiawatha stands foremost. They differ greatly in some respects. 
In one he has seven Onondaga daughters, who are destroyed by 
tlie magician. Olisinoh. in order to oblige Hiawatha to go to the 
Mohawks, meet Dekanawida and form the League. Mr. Parker 
has told this pathetic story. 

Another story gives him three Onondaga daughters, the last 
of whom is killed when the beautiful white bird is shot. In this 
case it is Te\-yoh-ron-yoh-i'on, //;<■ /;/>//; flying bird 7vhich ficrccs 
the sky. i. e., the wampum bird. In this story Hah-gooks 
ap[)ears in ;'. dilTc(;nt way. 

My old friend. Baptist Thomas, had another story from his 
grandfalhei', which he told me, and afterw^ird Mr. Parker. The 
irlea that the great chief was at first a Mohawk is prevalent at 
Ononda'jra. 1 follow Mr. Parker's version in this. Hiawatha 



THE FOUNDERS OF THE XEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 19 

left the Mohawks because, when his only sister, Dasiyu, died, 
no one came to comfort him. though he had comforted others. 
Through continuous fighting the Mohawks had grown hard 
hearted, and thus, sorely offended. Hiawatha came to Onondaga 
lake, built a hut near Liverpool, where he first saw Tadodaho. 
was frightened, and tried to get rid of him by shifting his hut 
from place to place. At Onondaga he took a wife, but at last 
went away on his great errand. 

At the foot of Bear Moiuitain, in Otisco, he stayed one night, 
cTud in the gloom heard a familiar peace song. "In the morning 
he ascended the mountain, and there he found five stalks of 
corn springing from four roots, and there was only one large 
stalk at the root from Avhich the five stalks grew. On each stalk 
were three large ears of ripe corn." A large turtle appeared in 
the morning, danced the Ostowagona, or great Feather dance, 
and explained what he saw. It was the turtle who sang in the 
night, and thus he said: "Now this is the great corn and you 
will make the nations like it. Three ears represent the three 
nations (those who had agreed to the plan) and the five stalks 
from a single stalk represent the five nations, and the four roots 
go to the north and west, the south and east." 

Iliawathii weut on to the TuUy lakes and there occurred the 
episode of the ducks who dried up the pond, disclosing the 
shells, and farther on. the use of wampum under difficulties. He 
had not a fair chance. 

The Onondaga chief, Dadodaho. or entangled, from the 
snakes twisting all over his head and tipping his fingers, was of 
bad character at first, shunned by all and opposed to the League, 
but was its founder according to David Cusick, who drew a 
famous picture of him and thus describes his appearance, mode 
of life and great deeds. "Perhaps 1,000 years before Columbus 
discovered the America." It is well he said "perhaps." 

"About this time the Five Families became independent 
nations, and they formed a council fire in each nation, etc. 
Unfortunately a war broke out among the Five Nations ; during 
the unhappy differences the Atotarho was the most hostile 
chief, resided at the fort Onondaga : his head and body were 
ornamented with black snakes : his dishes and spoons were made 
of skulls of the enemy ; after a while he requested the people to 



20 THE FOUNDERS OF TBE NEW YORK IROQUOIS LBAXJUE 

fhangt' his dress, the people immediately drove away the snakes — 
r. mass of wampum was collected and the chief was soon dressed 
in a lariio belt of wampum; he became a law giver, and renewed 
tlie cliaiu t)i" alliance of the Five Nations and framed their 
internal government, which took five years in accomplishing it. 
At Onondaga a tree of peace was planted, reached the clouds 
of Heaven: under the shade of this tree the Senators are invited 
to sit and deliberate, and smoke the pipe of peace as ratification 
of their proceedings: a great council fire was kindled under the 
iiia.jestic tree, having four branch(^s. one pointed to the south, 
west, east, north: the neighboring nations were ama^ied at the 
powerful confederates: the Onondaga was considered a heart of 
tlie country: numerous belts and strings of wampum were left 
with the famous chief as record of alliance, etc., after he had 
accomplished the noble work he was immediately named Atotarho, 
King of the Five Nations; and was governed by the Senate, 
chosen ])y the people annually : the successor of the kings to 
folloAv the woman's line," as they yet do. 

Baptist Thomas, of Onondaga reservation, also gave his 
grandfather's account of Dadodaho and his encounters with 
Hiawatha: ''He had snakes in bis hair and covering his 
shoulders, and one great one came up from his thighs and went 
over his shoulders." The tradition is that his mind had been 
in some way affected, and he had to be sought out and cured. 
Dekanawida called for volunteers. Four couples were successively 
rejected, as in the tale of the Good Hunter, but at last two were 
sent in the form of birds, Avho found the chief and made their 
report : — 

"At great danger to ourselves we have seen Adodarhoh. We 
havt' returned and tell you that the body of Adodarhoh has seven 
crooked parts, his hair is infested Avith snakes and he is a 
cannibal." A poor prospect indeed, but he could be cured if 
the Peace songs were sung in the proper Avay. A long procession 
was formed from the IMohaAvk and Oneida toAA^ns. The Onondaga 
frontier Avas reached and a fire kindled, according to custom. 
They Avore Avelcomed there by the chief Onondagas and all 
marched to the abode of Dadodaho. the singer of the Peace 
hymn leading. If he made a mistake or hesitated he would fail 
to heal the chief. He failed and so did another. Dekanawida 



THE FOUNDERS OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 21 

tried and succeeded. "Then Adodarholi was made straight and 
his mind became healthy/' I judge that something was still 
lacking as he appears in opposition later, but again became 
reasonable. So complete was his recovery at last that to him. 
Avas given the custody of the great council fire which his 
successors hold to this day. 

There is a dual organization of the Five Nations, and, as 
far as possible, each principal chief in Canada is represented 
by one of the same rank here. In some cases this rule fails. 
The Mohawks all went to Canada and left no one here to 
represent Hiawatha. In 1897 a published list of Canadian 
chiefs showed David Thomas as his successor, with Nicholas 
Gibson as Dadodaho. At the same time Frank Logan was 
Dadodaho in New York. 

I attended the installation of his latest successor here in 
1917. He differed much from his famous predecessor, wearing 
good store clothes and a tine straw hat, instead of a head dres.-;, 
of snakes. He could afford to dress well for he had a good 
position in a great automol)ile factory. • At the woodside fire an 
older chief appeared to less advantage, for though he wore 
spectacles he hesitated over the hard words as he read his part. 
But then that happened also in singing the Peace Hymn for 
the first Tadodaho, three hundred years before. 

Until quite recently Dekanawkla has attracted less attention 
in New York than in Canada, where he poses as the real founder 
of the League, as. traditionally, he claimed to be. On the work 
and character of the three concerned there is naturally some 
difference of opinion. No one greatly admires Tadodaho at any 
time. The cjuestion is between DekanaM'ida's power and leader- 
ship and Hiawatha's idealism and wisdom. It may be best to 
say they were true yoke-fellows, pulling together and thus 
reaching great results. 

Dr. Hale, as a Canadian who studied the sub.ject, carefully 
and on both sides, said: "The Five Nations, while yielding 
abundant honor to the memory of Dekanawida. have never 
regarded him with the same affectionate reverence which has 
always clung to the name of Hiawatha. His tender and lofty 
wisdom, his wide-reaching benevolence, and his fervent appeals 
to their better sentiments, enforced by the eloquence of Avhich 



22 THE FOUNDERS OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 

he was master, touched chords in the popuhir heart Avhich have 
continued to respond until this day. Fragments of the speeches 
in which he addressed the council and the people of the League 
are still remeuibered and repeated." 

I thiuk my friend was right. Dekanawida was a dictator — 
Hiawatha a persuader: the one a demi-god, the other a 
sympathetic niau. The so-called Constitution of the League 
begins with the emphatic "I Am." He does all things, and as 
he pleases. The mandate commences thus: — 

"I am Dekanawida, and with the Five Nations Confederate 
Lords 1 ])lant the Tree of the Great Peace. I plant it in your 
territory, Adodarhoh. and the Onondaga Nation, in the territory 
of you wlio are Firekeepers." 

There are curious stories of Dekanawida. He was a child 
of destiny and of supposed Huron and virgin birth in Canada. 
Others make him at first an Onondaga chief adopted by the 
]\rohawks. It was revealed, say some, that he would bring 
misfortune to the Hurons, and he was thrice exposed in the 
Avinter l)y his grandmoiher, but miraculously restored. The 
Huron ovei'throAv came from the League of which he claimed to 
be the founder. Like Hiawatha, with whom he is sometimes 
confused, he came across Lake Ontario in his white canoe, but 
it was of marble. Glooskap. the Abenaki demigod, had also a 
stone canoe in which he arrived and departed. The ^lohawlv 
chief is of no great prominence in New York tales, but has a 
leading place in Canada where most of the Mohawks now are. 
Besides, he looked out for them. No legal business could be 
done without their Lord's presence. That is very well in 
Canada, but was not required in early days in New York, as 
plainly appeared. 

Ticaving the Constitution for awhile there is another 
document officially set forth in 1900, by the Five Nation chiefs 
in Canada. Avhich now combines tra.dition and modern rules. I 
pass over much of the narrative, in which Dekanawida and 
Hiawatha are equally active, but the former assumes leadership. 
When the delegates of four nations come to Onondaga lake for 
the final meeting with the Onondagas. these two chiefs bring 
some across from the west shore in the white stone canoe, which 
Hiawatha guides. A great storm twice arises through Tado- 



THE FOUNDERS OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 23 

daho's magic power, and twice Dekanawida commands peace, 
and twice there is a great calm. Hiawatha goes back for some 
late comers, including the Peace Queen or Mother of Nations, 
an interesting person. He tells them that if they cross in a 
great calm, it will mean that the Great Peace will be established, 
and so it was. The lake was still. Hoav the delegates from four 
nations happened to be on the west side of the lake when half 
came from far east, I do not know, unless for a preliminary 
conference, of which a glimpse appears. 

Something may be said about the names of these three chiefs 
and their meaning. Tadodaho's name is variously spelled, 
Atotarho, given by David Cusick, being the more common, and 
I have quoted his account in full. Pyrlaeus makes it Tatotarho, 
and usually it is translated entangled. Mr. J. N. B. Hewitt 
gives another spelling and meaning, Wathatotarho, he obstinately 
refused to aequiesce. but refers it to no dialect. It is not 
Onondaga. DekanaAvida is thus given by him, as meaning tieo 
river currents floicing togetJier. He thought him a pine tree 
chief, which anticipates too much. Arthur C. Parker ajcepts 
this meaning but in "The Constitution of the Five Nations,'' 
page 15, is this: "I am Dekanawidah, so named because my 
virgin mother dreamed that it should be so and no one else shall 
ever be named by this name." In every possible way he would 
stand alone. 

Hiawatha's name is variously defined. Lewis H. Morgan's 
Seneca interpreter gave it as Ha-yo-went-ha, he who combs, in 
allusion to his combing of the snakes out of Tadodaho's head. 
Pere Cuoq suggested the river maker, with which Hewitt agrees. 
Daniel LaFort could give me no meaning, though Clark said he 
had that of very wise man from LaFort 's father, De-hat-kah-tous. 
He probably misunderstood him, as the Onondagas often applied 
such words much as we do — descriptively and not as a name. A 
Pine Tree chief might have been thus mentioned. 

Dr. Hale translated the name, he ivho makes or seeks the 
ivauipuni belt, alluding to the stories of this. Strictly speaking 
there were no wampum belts in Hiawatha's day, though some 
may have been made of porcupine quills. Fresh Avater shells ar(> 
quite rare on Onondaga sites, except of clam shells, used for 
food. Loskiel describes the first strung Avampum as made of 



24 THE FOUNDERS OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 

short cylinders of colored wood. Real shell wampum is of 
historic (late, but soon became wonderfully abundant when the 
l^utch came. Dr. Hale, however, thought Hiawatha had handled 
cxistinj; belts, but this would make his era too recent. 

]\ry able interpreter, Albert Cusick — who also aided Dr. Hale 
jiiul Mv. Parker, and was highly esteemed I)y all — told me, after 
nuu'li study, that it meant, essentially, o}ic zcho has lost his mind 
cDul seeks it. IcjuKeiiu/ lehcrr to find if-- i. e., he might seem crazy 
lo some, but the end would show he was right. He knew what 
he was about. This interpretation certainly fits the case, and 
.Ml-. Tarkei' also aeeepts it in a briefer form. As with us, some 
r:aiin's art' easily defined and some have lost their meaning. The 
}>res(Mi'(' oi' omission of a letter may change the sense entirely. 
Of more importance than the name is the character, and that of 
Hiawatha is of a high type. He labors for the good of others, 
seeking- nothing for himself. If it was a true likeness it speaks 
well for him. If it was idealized it speaks well for his people. 

As there are few ^lohawks here it is only in Canada that the 
True successors of the good chief follow in his train. The "^vay 
ill which they are chosen, the ceremonies w'ith which they are 
installed, thouoh much abridged, are of high interest still. In 
the nature of things the condoling songs, mourning for the dead 
chiefs and lamenting other changes, must be of later date than 
ihe League, but they preserve the names of those chiefs who 
met by Onondaga lake to do a great work — greater than they 
knew. Let us hoi)e that a higher welfare may come. 

From the condolence Mr. Morgan had his list of the fifty 
chiefs and their clan.ship. Dr. Hale added the songs and 
interpretalion. a few items and ample notes. I added the full 
ceremonies, which I have often attended, secured all the music 
throngh Albei't Cusick, who also aided me in forming the 
r)nondaga .syllables into words. This work is thus complete and 
none too soon. The results have been published for the State 
^luseum. The Onondaga words are intoned at the first and 
second removals of the curtains. A possibility in this intoning 
is curiously provided for in No. 64 of the Constitution:— 

"At the ceremony of the in.stallation of Lords, if there is 
finly one expert speaker and singer of the law and the Pacification 
Hyiim to stand at the council fire, then when this speaker and 



THE POUNDERS OF THE XEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 25 

jdnger has finished one side of the fire he shall go to the opposite 
side and reply to his own speech and song. He shall thus act for 
both sides of the fire until the ceremony has been completed. 
Such a speaker and singer shall be termed the 'Two Faced/ 
because he speaks and sings for both sides of the fire." 

I have often attended the Onondaga condolences, and this 
change might occur at the woodside fire, where the condolers 
and mourners sit ranged on opposite sides of this, but it is more 
conspicuous in the council house at the hanging and removal of 
the curtains. After the chant of the long roll call of chiefs a 
curtain is stretched across the room, separating the mourners 
from the condoling visitors, emblematic of the covering of the 
Lead while looking on the dead. Behind this seven bunches of 
purple wampum are placed on a rod, and the greatest hymn of 
all is sung with fine efl:'ect. The curtain is removed and a sii.ger 
takes a bunch at a time, intones his song and delivers the wampum 
to the mourners, who place it on another rod, till all the string's 
are there. Then he says, "Show me the man." 

The response is, "Wait." The curtain is again hung and 
all is repeated, usually by the same singers. Then the new chief 
is presented and receives his wampum and a charge telling his 
new duties. On different reservations there are slight variations, 
but written or printed copies now aid in uniformity though not 
in impressiveness. 

Intoning is. or was, used on other occasions. In the 
Moravian journals at Onondaga we learn that all messages were 
presented to the Grand Council in this way. About the same time 
William Henry, a captive of the Senecas, described what he called 
"the quoting tone, being what they use when repeating messages, 
treaties or anything that has been said by others in former times, 
distant places or preceding councils ; a tone so particular, that, 
if you come into a council in the middle of a speech, you can 
tell whether the person speaking is delivering his own sentiments 
or reciting those of another, this tone having the same effect in 
their speeches and answering nearly the same end, with our 
marginal inverted commas in writing, to distinguish borrowed 
passages (pioted as authorities : only that the Indians have three 
differences in the quoting tone, none of which we have in writing, 



26 THE FOVNDERS OF THE XEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 

viz., the approving accent, the disapproving accent, and the 
uncertain or doubting." 

The so-called Constitution of the League is verj^ elaborate, 
and has. prefixed, the legend of Dekanawida and Hiawatha. As 
nominal nicmoi-ials of its adoption there are the two great belts 
which I bought at Onondaga for the State Museum, both much 
shorter than when I first know them. The one of fifty rows, 
the Onondagas say symbolizes the evergrowing Tree of Peace, 
with many branches. The other of forty-five rows, is sometimes 
called the great covenant belt, showing many nations. What- 
ever their nature they are by no means old. as examination will 
c^how, but are the widest belts on record. 

Knowing how Col. Van Schaick's five hundred and fifty-eight 
men loaded themselves with plunder and hoAv complete was the 
surprise when he burned the Onondaga towns in 1779, I have 
little faith that many Ncav York wampum belts are old. Read 
this ])rief record of April 25. '79. at Fort, Stanwix : "This day 
we were busy collecting the plunder and making equitable 
distribution of it to each Company." On the day of the attack 
the same writer said, "They then plundered the houses of the 
most valuable things and set fire to them." 

Tn 1690. when Count Frontenac came against them, the 
Onondagas had time to remove a good deal and yet lost much 
of value. Some caches bad been made, but most were discovered. 
"The grain and the rest of the plunder, consisting of kettles, guns, 
hatchets, stuffs, belts and some peltries, were pillaged hy our 
Frenchmen and Indians." 

The probability is that all the surviving Iroquois belts were 
made at Buffalo and vicinity, after the Onondagas went to 
Buffalo creek in 1779. The British were lavish in gifts and the 
Iroquois never had such prosperous times. They could afford 
wampum belts on a grand scale. 

In Mr. Parker's copy of "The Constitution of the Five 
Nations," p. 47. these words occur: 

"A broad dark belt of wampum of thirty-eight rows, having 
a white heart in the center, on either side of which are two white 
squares, all connected with the heart by white rows of beads, 
shall be the emblem of the unity of the Five Nations." 

In this the heart is supposed to represent the Onondagas as 



THE FOUNDERS OF THE XEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 27 

the heait of the League and the squares on either side, the other 
four nations. A later interpretation turns the belt bottom up, 
the heart becoming the tree of peace — not a bad idea. Still 
another — when Abiaiii LaFort, De-hat-ka-tous, in 1848 showed 
this belt and twenty -five others to Mr. J. V. Clark, it was "six- 
teen inches broad by four feet long", re present in <>■ the first union 
and league of the Five Nations. . . . The several nations are 
distinguished by particular squares, and these are .joined together 
by a line of white wampum and united to a heart in the center, 
implying the union of hand and heart as one." 

I saw what remained of these belts in 1878, the first white 
man to see them after Mr. Clark. ^More than half had disappeared, 
and this one had lost half of its length, if he measured it 
correctly, which I very much doubt. The usual scale would make 
it about ten inches wide and perhaps now less than two feet 
long. Mr. Clark liked large figures, but that has little to do 
Avith this belt's meaning. 

The Canadian interpretation (not Mr. Parker's) goes on to 
j;ay more exactly, "The first of the squares on the left represents 
the Mohawk nation and its territory : the second square on the 
left and the one near the heart, represents the Oneida nation 
and its territory -. the white heart in the middle represents the 
Onondaga nation and its territory, and it also means that the 
heart of the Five Nations is single in its loyalty to the Great 
Peace, the Great Peace is lodged in the heart (meaning 
with Onondaga Confederate Lords), and that the Council Fire 
is to burn there for the Five Nations, and further, it means that 
the authority is given to advance the cause of peace, whereby 
hostile nations out of the Confederacy shall cease M^arf are : the 
white square to the right of the heart represents the Cayuga 
nation and its territory, and the fourth and last white square 
represents the Seneca nation and its territory." The squares 
next the heart are the largest. This is a geographical 
interpretation from east to west, in which the most important 
nations are made the smallest, and nothing is said of the squares 
which have disappeared at each end. The continued white line 
of union shows this plainly. The old Indian interpretation holds 
its own. There was one heart or one tree of peace for the 
League, there were originally three squares on each side for 



2S THE FOUNDERS OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 

:lu' six confederate nations. The belt is not old but is anomalous 
in this — that the Tusearoras were thus included. 

The Constitution is said to have been long preserved by 
wampum l)elts and strings, and lately reduced to Avriting. Its 
value is that it accurately preserves many ancient, modern and 
local features of Indian life. Many of these can be accurately 
dated at long intervals. Law making was progressive then as 
ill our own case. All of the remaining Onondaga belts were in 
the bag which ]Mr. Clark described when I first saw them thirty- 
three years ago. I (juote his description: "It is made of the 
finest shreds of elm bark, and a person ^yithout being apprised, 
might easily mistake it for the softest flax. Its capacity would 
exceed a bushel. This bag is reported to be as old as the league 
itself, and certainly bears the marks of great antiquity." 

"While I was preparing my illustrated treatise on wampum in 
1899. I had an opportunity of seeing a mode of voting quite 
novel to (uie knowing only New York methods and early records. 
I wished to see their few remaining belts, and, if possible, get 
photographs of them. They had lost most of these after trusty 
John Buck's death, and a formal application was necessary. In 
due time I was notified of a meeting of the Grand Council at 
Oshweken and made my appearance, being assigned a lofty seat 
and two interpreters. The Elder Brothers, the Mohawks and 
Senecas, sat on one side of the hall : the Younger Brothers, the 
Oneidas and Cayugas, were on the other; the Onondagas, as Fire 
Keepers, Avere in the center. After some preliminaries my 
ref|uest went to the Lords present. They voted according to 
Canadian rules as they are said to have been made by Dekana- 
wida. The 9th rule is this: — 

'"All the business of the Five Nations' Confederate Council 
shall 1)0 conducted by the two combined bodies of Confederate 
Lords. First the question shall be passed upon by the Mohawk 
and Reneca Lords, then it shall be discussed and passed by the 
Oneida and Cayuga Lords. Their decisions shall then be referred 
to the Onondaga Lords (Fire Keepers) for final judgment." If 
ihere is a disagreement the Fire Keepers decide the question, but 
merely confer on agreement. Then they report to the Mohawk 
Lords, who announce the decision. In New York historic 
councils each nation voted for itself. The distinctions of the 



THE FOUNDERS OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 29 

aristocracy and the common people were plainly marked at an 
early day. The government never has been democratic. 

The Constitution may be studied to advantage, for it deals 
with many interesting details of every day life now, even to the 
broomstick across the door to show absence from home. All 
^re fully and methodically set forth, greatly aiding those who 
have not time or opportunity for long or close observation. 

There remains one question — that of time. When did 
HiaAvatha and Dekanawida live, and when was the League 
formed? The answer is partly traditional, partly historical, but 
ultimately archaeological. 

When closely examined the early traditions give but a recent 
date — the Onondagas noAv say A. D. 1600 — a close enough period. 
Everyone disregards David Cusick's date of 1000 years before 
Columbus came. Mr. L. H. Morgan, on the belief of some 
intelligent Senecas and Tu.scaroras "'would place the epoch of 
its formation about A. D. 1459." and Dr. Hale accepted this. In 
1875, he said, the chiefs he interviewed on the Onondaga 
reservation near Syracuse, said "it was their belief that the 
confederacy Avas formed about six generations before the white 
people came to these parts.'' John Buck, keeper of wampum in 
Canada, in 1882, thought it was then "about four hundred years" 
since the League was formed. The New York Onondagas after- 
ward testified that the League was formed about A. D. 1600. 
Clark says of the date. "Webster, the Onondaga interpreter, 
and good authority, states it about two generations before the 
white people came to trade Avith the Indians." Schoolcraft said, 
"There is a tradition among portions of the Senecas. that the 
present confederation took place four years before Hudson sailed 
up the river bearing his name. This gives A. D. 1605." He 
slso had a story from Ephraim Webster, through Mr. Tyler of 
Seneca Falls, which, he said, his father had "from Webster's 
own lips, namely, that the confederation, as related by the 
Onondagas, took place about the length of one man's life before 
the white men appeared." practically agreeing with Clark. 

T have already mentioned the date given by Pyrlaeus. hut 
lie added another which no one cares to quote: "The Senecas, 
who were the last Avho at that time had consented to the alliance. 
Avere called the voungest son: but the Tuscaroras, who joined 



30 THE FOUNDERS OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 

the confederacy probably a hundred years afterAvards, assumed 
That nanu\" Now the Tuscaroras were received about 1714, 
and if tlic ?^oneea alliance was about 1614 or a little earlier, it 
aprees with Champlain's distinction of the Senecas from the 
Iroquois. Remember that when he, with his Canadian friends, 
came against the Oneida fort at Nichols' Pond in 1615, the 
Onoidas cxpcctod no help from the Mohawks on one side or the 
Onondagas on the other, nor did Champlain's followers dread 
interference or take the slightest precaution against it. I do 
not claim that there was no League at all at that date, but it 
certainly was not the elaborate structure pictured in the 
Constitution. Yet from Oneida statements the Rev. Samuel 
Kirkland niad(> a date of 1608, and it really is ditScult to make 
it much earlier. 

The common objection on the difference in dialects is easily 
understood. At first the Onondagas were in Jefferson county, 
Avorking soutlnvard into their later territory, the Oneidas AA'ere 
near Ogdensbnrg and Prescott -. the Mohawks, a late offshoot of 
Ihe TTurons. dAA'elt at and about Montreal Avith possessions in 
Vermont. There Avas ample space and time for differentiation 
and it came through the^operation of natural laws. Each had its 
own territory, before the League as well as after, and thus its 
oAA'Ti dialect. 

Before coming to Tadodaho D(^kanaAvida called the chiefs 
and people together and they Avent in solemn procession from 
:he MohaAvk caintal to Onondaga, led by one man, ''singing the 
Peace songs as he Avalked."' The party passed through tAventy- 
tAA'o old village sites and camping places. "All these places 
Avcrc ill the MohaAvk country." In the condolence song Dr. Hale 
has eight of these for the Wolf clan, six for the Turtle, and four 
for the P.ear. Avith five lately added. There is no distinction of 
nationality, and Oneida. Onondaga and Seneca, recent names, 
are easily recoo-nizable among them. :\ry ^MohaAA'k copy of the 
condolence has the same Avith slight variations in spelling. I 
will point out but one, and this is of special interest. It is 
O-nen-yo-deli. ///,- pyolniduui si one. AA-hicb gives the Oneidas 
their name. I crive the folloAving account, written by my friend, 
Mr. A. TV. Palmer. Avho has done much successful research work 
at the Oneida fort site of 1615. As it is not mentioned in mv 



THE FOUNDERS OF THE XEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 31 

Aboriginal Occupation of New York I Avill say it is a moderate 
distance to the south of Perryville, and that this original Oneida 
stone has been destroyed. The scries of stones varied greatly 
in form and size. Mr. Palmer said : — 

"In my early youth the Indians used to pass here frequently, 
and nearly always toward the south. I feared them greatly. To 
ray anxious inquiries as to where they were going and what for, 
my grandfather told me that they went up to Fenner to visit 
the place Avhcrc they used to live, and to camp near a rock, 
which he called their 'council stone.' Later I learned that the 
rock in question was on the farm now owned (1900) by Patrick 
Dougherty, and on the site of a well-known historic Indian 
village. From the family of Paul ]\Iaine, who lived al)out one- 
fourth mile from the stone. I learned that the Oneida Indians 
visited the stone twice a year, sometimes camping for days in 
the vicinity: but never at the stone — visiting it only at night, 
^liss Phebe Maine, in whose company I first visited the stone, 
told me something of the legend of the stone rolling there from 
the fai- northwest, and pointing out to the tribe the place on 
which to build their village. . . . She also told me that, 
as a child, in company with some older persons, she once saw a 
part of sonu^ strange ceremony performed by the Indians about 
the stone. The stone in question was a large granite boulder, 
someAvhat oval in shape and as tall as a man. It was drilled 
and blasted . . . for James Gebbery of Perryville, who 
then owned the farm." 

Mr. Palmer also wrote me that this was a mile southeast of 
Perryville, and "was a dark crystalline stone, quite erect and 
reaching about seven feet above ground." His early home was 
near Olockville. 

Champlain's expedition of 1609 was against the Mohawks 
or Irconois. as he always termed them, and he defeated a large 
party. That of 1615 Avas "against the Antouhonorons,"" else- 
where called an Iroquois fort. "The Antouhonorons," he said, 
"are fifteen villages, built in strong positions; . . . tl^eir 
country is fine and in a good climate near the River St. Lawrence, 
the pa sago of which they block to all other nations. 
The Iroquois and the Antouhonorons make war together against 
all the otber nations except the Neutral nation." 



32 THE FOUNDERS OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 

Thus the Iroquois were then distinct from, but allied with 
the Antouhonorons, whose country was around Lake Ontario. 
In early accounts the Iroquois or Mohawks commonly include 
the closely related Oneida s. the Fi-ench distinguishing the rest 
as the Sonontouehronons or Great Hill People and the Dutch 
calling them Senecas. It was not until December, 1634, that 
the Dutcli visitors at Oneida learned the names of all. There 
was then no treaty with them as a body, but one was made 
in 1645. 

In 1635 the Jesuit Relations mention all individually and 
collectively for the first time, adding "all of whom we 
comprehend under the name of Iroquois." Yet the Relation 
of 1648 divides all into Senecas and Mohawks, like the Dutch, 
and tlu' latter rarely used the oth<'r names before 1662. The 
alliance was at first for peace between themselves, each nation 
niakinu its own treaties. In 1636 there was peace between the 
Hurons and Senecas, and a young Seneca at once .joined the 
Onondagas that he might still wage war. It was a mistake for 
him. for he was captured and terribly tortured. 

In 1654 the Mohawks were quite hostile to the Onondagas, 
and "were at the point of entering into war" with the Senecas, 
but these little afifairs were settled. The League had much to 
learn in its youth. 

That the Mohawks once lived in Canada is w^ell known. 
"When Jacques Cartier ascended the St. Lawrence to Quebac 
and Montreal in 1535 he heard Iroqiiois spoken so much that 
he preserved some w^ords and names. At Montreal he visited 
and described an Iroquois town. In 1691 the four western 
nations told of a ship which visited their forefathers in former 
days, adding that "in that ship were Christians, amongst the 
rest one Jacques with whom we made a Covenant of Friendship,'* 
when or with whom we can only surmise. Cartier found Iroquois 
living on the St. Lawrence in 1535. Champlain Avent up the river 
in 1603 and not one remained. Where had they gone? The 
historical answer is into -what is now New York, but not at once. 

The story of Algonquin perfidy was told by several early 
liistoiians. and Charlevoix said it was the most credible story 
of the origin of the Iroquois war that he could find. The out- 
raged Tro(iuois "bound themselves by oath to perish to a man 



THE FX)UNDERS OF THE XEW YORK IROQUOIS LEAGUE 33 

or to have their revenge." They left Canada, learned war 
prudently, and in due time, said that writer, "They poured all 
at once upon the Algonquins, and commenced that war of which 
we saw only the conclusion, and which set all Canada on fire." 
He thought the outrage was of rather recent date when 
Champlain came. 

In this the earliest date we have is 1535, when the Iroquois 
Avere peacefully living in Canada, which leaves sixty-five years 
to the Onondaga present date of the League in 1600. Anyone 
can see that it is idle to place it before 1535. In the due time 
that elapsed there was quite an interval of peace, an orderly 
exodus from Canada, a time of prudent preparation for war by 
an unskilled people, seeking hiding places for a time and then 
gradually coming into the open, ready for the fight. I usually 
date the League in 1590. in deference to some others, but with 
an inner feeling that ten years or more later is nearer the truth. 

The difficulty is to tell where they were during this time 
of preparation. As Charlevoix said of that time, the Algonquins 
"never yielded to them in valor and could easily have crushed 
them by numbers." Champlain 's words may be recalled here. 
As they paddled along the western shore of the lake in 1609, 
his Algonquin allies told him that the Vermont shore belonged 
to the Iroquois — his name for the Mohawks — and that there were 
beautiful valleys and fertile cornfields there, well suited to a 
people like them. The mountains were a natural defense and 
the valleys gave them food. While there they built no large 
towns, lest they might attract attention, waging war only on 
southern foes where their future homes were to be. Thus they 
prepared for a better day. The time came and now they had 
entered the ]\lohawk valley, without relinquishing their northern 
claims. The historical argument can be carried much farther, 
AYhat does archaeology say? 

As regards New York this is, in a way, a new science. Once 
we gathered Indian relics merely as such, classifying them as 
pipes, pots and potsherds, arrowheads, stone axes, etc. Now 
we say. "This is Iroquois: this Algonquin: this Eskimo: this 
from the Mound builders : this from Illinois : this from Long 
Island." We read unknown history in this Avay. We say the 
Eskimo, .just so far south of Lake Ontario and .I'ust so far west 



34 THE FOUNDERS OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS LEIAGUE 

alono its sliores, came here to hunt and fish in by-gone days. As 
yet Ave do not say when this was, but of the fact we have no 
donl)t. We can apply part of this to the Mohawk valley, 
distinguisliing every Mohawk Indian site from the Algonquin 
and others, and often its relative age. 

The real ((uestion is not when did the Senecas, Cayugas and 
Oiiondagas enter their historic territory. In this order they 
came at an early day. Ask rather, Wlien did the Oneidas, and 
iibove all the Mohawks, come? This simplifies the matter for, 
beyond all doul)t, they were the last comers. 

In the Oneida territory I have but one important site to 
examine more exactly. A brief visit gave some recent features 
;hi(1 its reputation tends in the same direction. It is among the 
liills and there were no early Iroquois town sites in the lowlands 
near Oneida lake. In the Mohawk valley it is much the same. 
Van Rensselaer bought all of Albany county from the Mohikans, 
tmt the ^lohawks held the valley from Schenectady westward 
to Little Falls. In 1630 they had a fort east of Schoharie creek, 
which they abandoned at that time. Prehistoric forts are rare — 
in fact I may say but three are definitely known there. One 
on the south side of the Mohawk, which I partially examined, 
seems old, as I think it is. It has a simple bank across an 
elevated terminal plateau betAveen two streams, and was figured 
by .Mr. E. (t. Squier in 1848. He said it is, "in many respects, 
the most remarkable in the State. It is the only one known 
which is situated upon waters flowing into the Hudson river. 
Its nearest neighbors upon the west are the ancient works in 
Onondaga county, a hundred miles distant. Between it and 
the Atlantic, we are not aware of the existence of a s.higle 
monument of like character." Later research gives different 
results. 

Oil the northern side it is hard to date the northernmost 
fort as early as 1500, so closely does its earthenwure connet'-t 
it with recent sites. Ano+her I have not visited, but know its 
character and contents, which are much like the last. With tAvo 
competent local archaeoloo-ists I Avent to almost every knoAA'u 
Mohawk site in that pai-t of the valley — all that I Avould consider 
old — and our reluctant conclusion Avas that the IMohaAA'ks but 
recently entered their valley, and that IliaAvatha's day Avas but 



a. 



BD 1.48^^ 



THE FOUNDERS OF THE NEW YORK IROQIUOIS LEAGUE ;i5 

little over three centuries ago. The League was not formed 
till the Mohawks came. That is plain. We know very closely 
when they came. In three ways I have tested the matter, and 
cannot escape the conclusion of the New York Onondagas, that, 
at or about the end of the sixteenth century, the League Avas 
formed. It is idle to say that the Onondaga council fire burned 
from time immemorial in their own valley. We know when it 
was kindled there and can point out and date every place where 
it burned for 120 years before that time. There were six of 
these east and southeast of Onondaga lake. 










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